University of Health Sciences chief executive post

UHS VC holding CE post without approval
Lahore, May 18: The vice-chancellor of the University of Health Sciences
has been holding the office of chief executive of the university
allegedly without the formal orders of the chancellor/governor Punjab.

Sources
said the incumbent UHS Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Malik Hussain Mubashar
had allegedly been using the powers and functions of the chief
executive without any legal justification for the last several years.

The
University of Health Sciences, Lahore (Amendment) Act 2009, Section 15
(1) says, "The Chief Executive shall be appointed by Governor on such
terms and conditions as the Governor may determine, and shall hold
office for a term of four years. (2) Provided that after the completion
of the first term of the Chief Executive, the Governor may or may not
appoint a new incumbent and, in case no further appointment is made,
may entrust the powers and functions of the Chief Executive to the Vice
Chancellor."

The powers and functions of vice-chancellor and
chief executive have been defined in the UHS act, according to which,
the former deals with the academic matters and the latter is
responsible to handle the administrative matters, ensuring the general
administration with regard to the finance, budget and accounts of the
university. However, official sources said that
governor/chancellor had neither issued the order for appointment of
Prof Dr Malik Hussain Mubashar as the chief executive under Section
15(1) nor entrusted the powers and functions of the chief executive to
the vice-chancellor under Section 15(2).

It may also be
mentioned that the UHS homepage (www.uhs.edu.pk) also did not mention
vice-chancellor as holding the co-office of the chief executive. When
contacted, the UHS administration claimed that the governor/chancellor
had appointed vice-chancellor as the chief executive but failed to
produce any notification despite repeated requests over the
past couple of weeks. However, the university spokesman sent a text
message to the scribe, which read, "Governor letter No. G.S
(B)17-6/2003 dated 17.3.2003. It says the Governor/Chancellor is
pleased to allow VC UHS to perform the duties of CE." The spokesman did
not show the notification despite several requests while the vice
chancellor was also reluctant to take the calls. The VC also did not
bother to ring up despite the scribe's communication with his spokesman
during the last couple of weeks.

The official sources, reacting against the reference given in the text message, doubted the

veracity
of its contents because the governor's another notification No
GS(B)17-2/2003 133, dated 7.4.2003, which is available with The News,
says, "In exercise of the powers conferred on him under Section 12(1)
of the University of Health Sciences, Lahore Ordinance, 2002, the
Governor/Chancellor is pleased to appoint Prof Dr Malik Hussain
Mubashar, Deputy Dean, Rawalpindi Medical College, Rawalpindi, as Vice
Chancellor, University of Health Sciences, Lahore, with immediate
effect."

They alleged that the reference given in text message
was fake because, according to them, the incumbent VC was appointed one
month after the purported notification, which described him as the VC.
Therefore, the governor would not have declared the incumbent as VC and
allowed him to perform the duties of CE on 17.03.2003 whereas he was
actually appointed as VC on 7.4.2003 and assumed charge on 12.4.2003.
Although it is not known for how long the VC has been holding the post
of CE yet as per the text message, the VC must be holding the post of
chief executive for just over seven years, which has also crossed the
duration of the term of four years under the provision of the Act.

The
sources claimed that the UHS vice-chancellor was enjoying special
blessings of the Punjab government as he was still serving despite the
promulgation of University of Health Sciences, Lahore (Amendment) Act
2009 with the only amendment to Section 12 replacing both of its
sub-sections by adding fresh eight sub-sections. The amended Section
12(1) says, "The Chancellor shall, on the advice of the chief minister
of Punjab, appoint the vice-chancellor for a term not exceeding four
years," while continuation of incumbent VC on the post was in
contravention of this provision as he has been serving on the post for
a little over seven years.

Besides, the Punjab government, in
its notification dated April 10, 2008, terminated reemployment of the
retired officers/officials from civil, army and police, without
exception, in government departments, all autonomous bodies, etc.
However, the VC of UHS continues serving in this capacity despite
attaining the age of superannuation on 31.7.2005. Moreover, the
governor's notification No GS(B)2-15/2006-332, dated 3.4.2007, which
says, "In exercise of the powers vested in him under Section 12(2) of
the University of Health Sciences, Lahore Ordinance, 2002, the
Governor/Chancellor is pleased to order the continuation of Prof Malik
Hussain Mubashar, Vice-Chancellor, University of Health Sciences,
Lahore till final processing of the case," is still valid despite the
ban on reemployment in service after retirement. The incumbent
vice-chancellor has been serving postretirement for nearly five years,
while sources wondered whether the governor's order "till final
processing of the case" required more than three years, especially
after the provisions, under which the appointments were made, became
obsolete with the enactment of the ordinance.

Ironically, the
Punjab government's both orders of ban on service after retirement and
regularisation of all contract employees from BPS 1 to 15 in the
province do not apply in case of the UHS.

The UHS has also
failed to create the post of Pro-Vice Chancellor despite its Board of
Governors, in its 20th meeting held on February 6, 2010, directed to do
so as per requirement in the light of amendments incorporated in the
newly-promulgated Act of the university. It had decided that the
proposal to create a post of Pro-Vice Chancellor would be incorporated
in the budget proposal for the financial years 2010-2011.

The
creation of the post of Pro-Vice Chancellor is essential under Section
12(7), which says, "If the office of the Vice-Chancellor is vacant or
the Vice-Chancellor is absent or is unable to perform the functions of
his office due to illness or some other cause, the Pro-Vice Chancellor
shall perform the duties of the Vice-Chancellor." There is a whole
Section 14 of the Act that defines the post and duties of the Pro-Vice
Chancellor.

When contacted, the UHS spokesman said that UHS
Board of Governors had issued directions for creating a post of
Pro-Vice Chancellor but added that now it was the prerogative of the
vice-chancellor to do as he pleased to do.

Int'l workshops at UHS
Lahore: Two international workshops are being conducted at University of Health
Sciences Lahore by a team from Ireland. The team of researchers is
headed by Macartan Hughes, Director National Ambulance Services
Ireland; Shane Knox from Ireland and Dr Khurram Shahzad, General
Secretary DRIP Ireland.

IT labs in 3,000 middle schools next fiscal
Lahore: After setting up computer labs in almost all high schools
of the province, the Punjab government is set to establish similar
computer labs in 3,000 of its 8,000 middle schools in the first phase
in next fiscal year.

It was learned that the provincial
government is going to earmark Rs3 billion in the upcoming budget to
set up computer labs on the pattern of high schools. The remaining
5,000 schools would then be provided the computer labs in next two
years, enabling the Punjab government comply with the Federal
governmentís directive to ensure computer education in all schools,
from middle level upwards.

"We have added 3.4 million new
internet users in one go by establishing computer labs in high
schools," said Punjab Information Technology Board CEO Judat Ayaz, who
oversaw the high school computer lab project. He said if funds were
made available next year, there would be no problem in equipping middle
schools with similar labs. The provision of computer labs to 3,000
middle schools would bring the province another 2.4 million young
internet users, he added.

He said branded global manufacturers
had provided software and hardware with three-year guarantee of
performance, repair and maintenance. The PTCL had provided broad band
high speed internet connections in most of the labs, guaranteeing
uninterrupted services for next three years. Even the enterprise
supplying 4,285 air conditioners had guaranteed repair and maintenance
for three years, he added. He said the government had made the
availability of computer labs of global quality on very cheap rates.
Originally, he said, the high school computer labs project was
estimated to cost Rs6 billion as they were going for 15 branded desktop
computers. However, afterwards, it was found that only three desktop
computers would be needed if the latest N-Computing device was used.
The decision saved the government Rs1.5 billion from the original
estimates, he added. This turned out to be a green projects as monitors
used as virtual desktops consume only 10 watt of electricity against
CBU of desktop computer that used 100 watt. He said the step would help
save a lot of energy every year.

Judat said the labs of 500
high schools would be upgraded in accordance with the new project. 'At
least 400 high schools could not get computer labs because they did not
have access to electricity. This year, they too would get labs as
arrangements had been made to electrify the schools through solar
panels,' he added.

GCU Seminar
Lahore: Government College University (GCU) Academic Planning and External Links
Department organised a seminar "Enterprising Research through
University-Industry Portal (UIP)" on Monday. The news

FJ Women University Campus lying in doldrums
Sialkot: The project of establishing the campus of Fatima Jinnah Women
University at Sialkot has been lying in doldrums for the last two and
half years due to the alleged slackness of the federal and provincial
governments, due to which the local girl students have to go to Lahore,
Islamabad and other far flung areas for getting the higher education.

The Governor Punjab Lt-Gen (Rtd) Khalid Maqbool had announced the
early establishment of this campus during his visit to Sialkot in 2007
during the Pervaiz Musharraf Regime. The Higher Education Commission
(HEC) of Pakistan had released a special grant of Rs. 330 million for
setting up this campus on 200 acres of land near Sialkot.

Reply sought from PU over appointment
Lahore: The Lahore High Court (LHC) issued a notice to the
University of Punjab administration over the appointment of a lecturer.
Beenish Javed, who taught in the Punjab University Philosophy
Department on probation for some days, filed a writ petition through
her counsel Syed Muhammad Nisar Safdar against the alleged merit
violation by the PU administration.

She claims that the selection
committee earlier selected her for the post of lecturer in the
Philosophy Department and later removed her which allegedly was on the
basis of the fact that the administration wanted someone else at this
position. This will be clear in a few days if her removal was a based
on malafide move by the administration. Ppi

MoU signed at PU
Lahore: A memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Punjab University
(PU) and Sichuan University, China on Monday to promote cooperation for
special trainings, researches and mutual exchange of faculty and
students. A signing ceremony in this regard was held at the PU
Institute of Biochemistry, New Campus. The MoU was inked by PU Vice
Chancellor Prof Dr Mujahid Kamran and Sichuan University Vice-President
Shijian. He is leading a 26-member Sichuan University delegation. The news